Hurricane ‘Helene’ has gained strength in the last few hours and is now a category two on the Saffir-Simpson scale and meteorologists fear that it could reach level three or even four before making landfall in the US state of Florida, where authorities have already been preparing for the storm for a couple of days.
The National Hurricane Center (CNH) has updated its analysis on Thursday to confirm that ‘Helene’ is advancing with maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour. It is now located about 500 kilometers from Tampa and the forecasts indicate that it will make landfall in the northern area of Florida this afternoon.
The governor of Florida, Ron Desantis, has put 61 of the 67 counties in the state under alert, with direct evacuation orders for more than twenty of these areas, although they are also waiting in Georgia and South Carolina. More than 800 flights have been cancelled, according to the ABC News channel.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has urged people to “take the threat seriously” and “not underestimate the storm,” as one of its officials, Keith Turi, explained in an interview with CNN, in which he asked the population to follow the authorities’ recommendations at all times.
The storm has also caused havoc in the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan, especially in the state of Quintana Roo, which has registered material damage as a result of the strong winds and heavy rainfall. Local authorities have no record of personal injuries.
